US Mass Shootings 1982 to 2019
US Mass Shootings Over Time
The number of mass shootings in the US is increasing.
The year with the most shootings was 2018 which consisted of 11% of the mass shootings.
US Mass Shootings By Gender
96% of mass shooters were men.
US Mass Shootings By Race
56% of mass shooters were white.
Were There Prior Signs of Mental Health Issues?
53% of mass shooters had prior signs of mental health issues.
Were Weapons Obtained Legally?
72% of mass shooters obtained weapons legally.
US Mass Shootings By State
California is the state that has had the most mass shootings.
17% of the mass shootings were in California.
US Mass Shootings By Location Type
Putting locations classed as “Other” to one side, as we don’t know what types are included in that classification, the workplace is the most common location type for mass shootings (33%), with schools being the next most common (15%).
Age Of Shooter
Shooter ages range from 11 to 66.
Age Bracket Of Shooter
The age bracket with the highest number of mass shootings is the 20s (34% of mass shootings).
Semi-Automatic Weapons
65% of mass shootings involved semi-automatic weapons.
Multiple Weapons
53% of mass shootings involved multiple weapons.
State & Race
State & Semi-Automatic Weapons
State & Multiple Weapons
State & Weapons Obtained Legally
State & Location Type
State & Prior Signs of Mental Health Issues
State & Age Bracket
Year & Semi-Automatic Weapons
Year & Multiple Weapons
Year & Age Bracket
Year & Prior Signs of Mental Health Issues
Year & Weapons Obtained Legally
Year & Location Type
Semi-Automatic Weapons & Prior Signs of Mental Health Issues
Multiple Weapons & Prior Signs of Mental Health Issues
Multiple Weapons & Semi-Automatic Weapons
Semi-Automatic Weapons & Age Bracket
Weapons Obtained Legally & Age Bracket
Multiple Weapons & Age Bracket
Multiple Weapons & Weapons Obtained Legally
Semi-Automatic Weapons & Weapons Obtained Legally
Age Bracket & Prior Signs of Mental Health Issues
Location Type & Prior Signs of Mental Health Issues
Weapons Obtained Legally & Prior Signs of Mental Health Issues
Location Type & Age Bracket
Location Type & Semi Automatic Weapons
Location Type & Multiple Weapons
Location Type & Race
About This Data
The dashboard is powered by data on US mass shootings 1982 - 2019 and has been provided by Mother Jones.
The download is available at:
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/
Data Cleansing Changes - Gender
The original breakdown of number of mass shootings by gender was:
| Gender | Shootings |
|---|---|
| F | 1 |
| Female | 2 |
| M | 36 |
| Male | 70 |
| Male & Female | 1 |
The cleansed breakdown is:
| Gender | Shootings |
|---|---|
| Female | 3 |
| Male | 106 |
| Male & Female | 1 |
Data Cleansing Changes - Race
The original breakdown of number of mass shootings by race was:
| Race | Shootings |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| - | 2 |
| Asian | 8 |
| black | 9 |
| Black | 9 |
| Latino | 10 |
| Native American | 3 |
| Other | 5 |
| unclear | 1 |
| white | 41 |
| White | 21 |
The cleansed breakdown is:
| Race | Shootings |
|---|---|
| Black | 18 |
| Latino | 10 |
| Native American | 3 |
| Unknown | 17 |
| White | 62 |
Data Cleansing Changes - Weapons Obtained Legally
The original breakdown of number of mass shootings by “Weapons Obtained Legally” was:
| Weapons Obtained Legally | Shootings |
|---|---|
| Yes | 2 |
| - | 1 |
| Kelley passed federal criminal background checks; the US Air Force failed to provide information on his criminal history to the FBI | 1 |
| No | 16 |
| TBD | 7 |
| Unknown | 6 |
| Yes | 76 |
| Yes (“some of the weapons were purchased legally and some of them may not have been”) | 1 |
The cleansed breakdown is:
| Weapons Obtained Legally | Shootings |
|---|---|
| No | 16 |
| Unknown | 15 |
| Yes | 79 |
Data Cleansing Changes - State
A new column was added containing the state code e.g. CA for California.
In the original data, the unique states after the comma in the location column were:
| State | Shootings |
|---|---|
| Arizona | 1 |
| Arkansas | 1 |
| CA | 5 |
| California | 14 |
| CO | 1 |
| Colorado | 5 |
| Connecticut | 3 |
| D.C. | 1 |
| FL | 2 |
| Florida | 9 |
| Georgia | 2 |
| Hawaii | 1 |
| IL | 2 |
| Illinois | 2 |
| Iowa | 1 |
| Kansas | 1 |
| Kentucky | 2 |
| Lousiana | 1 |
| Massachusetts | 1 |
| MD | 3 |
| Michigan | 2 |
| Minnesota | 2 |
| Mississippi | 1 |
| Missouri | 1 |
| Nebraska | 1 |
| Nevada | 1 |
| New York | 4 |
| North Carolina | 2 |
| NV | 1 |
| OH | 1 |
| Ohio | 2 |
| Oklahoma | 1 |
| Oregon | 2 |
| PA | 3 |
| Pennsylvania | 2 |
| South Carolina | 2 |
| Tennessee | 1 |
| Texas | 7 |
| TN | 1 |
| TX | 2 |
| Utah | 1 |
| Virginia | 1 |
| Washington | 7 |
| Wisconsin | 4 |
After cleansing, the unique states are:
| State | Shootings |
|---|---|
| AR | 1 |
| AZ | 1 |
| CA | 19 |
| CO | 6 |
| CT | 3 |
| D.C. | 1 |
| FL | 11 |
| GA | 2 |
| HI | 1 |
| IA | 1 |
| IL | 4 |
| KS | 1 |
| KY | 2 |
| LA | 1 |
| MA | 1 |
| MD | 3 |
| MI | 2 |
| MN | 2 |
| MO | 1 |
| MS | 1 |
| NC | 2 |
| NE | 1 |
| NV | 2 |
| NY | 4 |
| OH | 3 |
| OK | 1 |
| OR | 2 |
| PA | 5 |
| SC | 2 |
| TN | 2 |
| TX | 9 |
| UT | 1 |
| VA | 1 |
| WA | 7 |
| WI | 4 |
Data Cleansing Changes - Location Type
The location types were:
| Location Type | Shootings |
|---|---|
| Workplace | 1 |
| Airport | 1 |
| Military | 5 |
| Other | 42 |
| Other | 3 |
| Religious | 6 |
| School | 17 |
| Workplace | 35 |
There were 2 instances of “Workplace”" as one had a leading white space.
There were also 2 instaces of “Other”" as one with a trailing white space.
The cleansed types are:
| Location Type | Shootings |
|---|---|
| Airport | 1 |
| Military | 5 |
| Other | 45 |
| Religious | 6 |
| School | 17 |
| Workplace | 36 |
Data Cleansing Changes - Prior Signs Of Mental Health Issues
The values in the imported data were:
| Prior Signs Of Mental Health Issues | Shootings |
|---|---|
| - | 7 |
| No | 17 |
| TBD | 3 |
| Unclear | 24 |
| Unknown | 1 |
| Yes | 58 |
The values are now:
| Prior Signs Of Mental Health Issues | Shootings |
|---|---|
| No | 17 |
| Unknown | 35 |
| Yes | 58 |